Brushing device



April 1939- R. R. BROGDEN 2,153,294

BRUSHING DEVICE Filed March 21, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEY Pow/240 1Q Became-NJ April 1939- 1 R R. B ROGDEN 2,153,294

BRUSHING DEVICE Filed March 21, 1936 2 Sheegs-Sheet 2 INVENT Pom/1L0 E. 52 DEN.

BY/dw ma@ ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES 2,153,294 nnusnmo nnvrcn Ronald R. Brogden, Orlando, Fla., asslgnor to Brogdex Company, Winter Haven, Fla., a corporation of Florida Application March 21, 1936, Serial No. 70,127

13 Claims.

This invention relates to a brushing device; and it relates more particularly to such a device of the overhead brush type having a rotary brush mounted on its driving shaft for brushing engagement at varying vertical positions of the brush with articles of correspondingly varying vertical dimensions on a support beneath it.

The overhead brushing device of my invention is adapted for use in cleaning, coating, polishing or effecting other surface treatments of various articles of merchandise or other objects in preparing them for use or market, where the treatment involves a brushing of the objects. It is more particularly adapted for use on articles usually handled for such treatments in lots of a large number of the articles of varying sizes but of only one kind for any given lot, and where the articles, when supported for the brushing action thereon, collectively present substantial 2o inequalities of surface to the brush. It is generally essential for best results in the cleaning, coating, polishing or other surface treatment of such articles to have the'brushing of uniform intensity over all the articles of the lot regardless 25 of surface inequalities which they collectively present to the brush due to their variations in size; and a general object of the invention is to provide an overhead brush meeting this requirement in the brushing of such articles.

30 Certain of such articles, usually those having a more or less globular shape, further require a relatively light brush pressure and a compensating relatively high speed of the brush against them to render the brushing effective for any 35 of the above-mentioned purposes and at the same time avoid damage to the body structure or surface of the articles. Eggs and certain fruits and vegetables such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons, avocados, pears, peaches and tomatoes 40 may be mentioned as examples of such articles;

and another object of the invention is to provide an overhead brush meeting that requirement in the brushing of articles of that character for any of the above-mentioned purposes.

45 Generally stated, the brushing device of the invention comprises a rotary brush roll and a driving shaft therefor designed to be disposed horizontally at a fixed distance above an articlesupporting surface, and a mounting and driving 50 connection from the shaft to the roll, mounting the latter for rotation with the shaft and also for upward or lifting movement radially of the shaft from a limiting low position of the roll. The extent of this lifting movement of the roll,

65 which occurs substantially against its own weight alone and is the result of upward pressure exerted against its lower surface by articles resting on said article-supporting surface, depends upon and varies with variations in height or thickness of such articles. The driving connection is arranged 5 to utilize the retarding effect produced tangentially by engagement of the brush roll with the articles to assist in lifting the roll and reducing the radial pressure on such articles.

with the device having the foregoing general 10 features of construction and operation, the brush pressure on the articles is substantially uniform regardless, within practically satisfactory limits, of individual variations in article sizes, for the range of vertical movement of the brush roll 1 radially of its shaft can be made to correspond substantially with the range of size variations through any lot of articles a brushing device of this general type normally handles, and within that range of movement of the roll its pressure on the articles is determined substantially by the weight of the roll alone. Also, that weight can be made light enough to give, at the high peripheral speed permissible with such an overhead brush, a brushing stroke that is effective and yet is of such lightness and delicacy as to avoid damage to the body structure or surface of even such relatively fragile or easily injured articles as those mentioned hereinabove.

Still further, in the best practice of the invention, the foregoing advantageous characteristics of the rotary brush are enhanced by forming it of a plurality of relatively short annular sections or rolls disposed in succession axially or lengthwise thereof and along the common driving shaft to form the brush as a whole or unit, and with these section rolls mounted on that shaft for upward yielding movement of each section roll independently of the others after the manner of the upward yielding movement of the 40 brush roll as first described above. Such a sectional construction of the overhead rotary brush presents the further advantage, for the brushing of fruit and other articles of more or less globular shape, of enabling the brush material of the lower side or surface of the brush as a whole to substantially conform to the contours of the upper portions of the articles engaged thereby.

The brushing device oi'the invention may take the form of a brushing tool, either hand or power driven, as distinguished from its forming the brushing mechanism of an article-brushing machine, for example; or the device maybe such an organic part of such a machine. In any of such embodiments of the invention'the brush 6 driving shaft disposed at a fixed or constant level above the artiol -supporting surface. In further explaining he principles of the invention, reference will be made to a concrete embodiment thereof forming the brushing element of a machine for brushing fruit or other articles of generally globular shape for cleaning or other treatment of the articles, as hereinafter described in detail and shown in the accompanying drawings. As the invention is of the indicated broad scope, however, this embodiment of it is not to be taken as restrictive but merely as illustrating the principles of the invention and as presenting an example of its application to a certain field of use.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal vertical section, of one end portion of an article-brushing machine havenlarged scale, of the overhead sectional brush shown in the preceding views, but with the brush bristles omitted so as to show the solid body portions or cores of the section rolls;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 4, through one of the section rolls of the brush; and

Fig. 6 is a similar view of one of the section rolls of the brush on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4, showing the roll in a vertical position with respect to its driving shaft differing from the position of the roll shown in Fig. 5.

In the present example, the brushing device of the invention is shown as an overhead brushin an article-brushing machine of a common construction, except for the brush, and adapted, with this brush therein, more particularly for brushing globular fruits such as oranges, grapefruit and lemons, for example, and other like articles hereinbefore referred to as requiring careful handling to avoid damage to their body structure or surface.

As the invention pertains to the overhead brush and not to the machine as 'a whole, only such parts of the machine are shown as will aptly illustrate this particular example of the brushing device of the invention in its situation of use in such a machine. The machine comprises a framework of supporting uprights l0, arranged in pairs at opposite ends of the machine and upper and lower pairs of opposite horizontal side rails II and I2. It further comprises an articlesupporting surface, afforded in thisinstance by an article conveyor of the endless roller-belt type l3, trained over sprockets l4 having shafts journalled in bearings l5 supported on the lower side rails l2 so as to dispose the upper or articlesupporting run of the conveyor horizontally araaaea below the top side rails H, and driving means for the conveyor, such as a power belt [6 trained over a pulley ill on the sprocket shaft l8. As usual in conveyor mechanism of this general type, a track 59 is disposed beneath the upper run of the conveyor for engagement of the conveyor rolls Ell therewith to effect rotation of those rolls as they travel along the track and also to support the upper run of the conveyor 'in a fixed horizontal plane.

In the present example, the brushing device of the invention comprises a rotary brush, indicated generally at 22, having a rotary driving shaft 23 minable fixed level above the upper run of the conveyor which, in this situation of use of the brushing device of the invention, presents the articles, such as oranges, for example, in supported positions beneath the brush. The shaft 23 may be driven by any suitable means. In the present example of use of the brush, that shaft may, conveniently, be driven from the sprocket shaft I8 of the machine by the pulley and belt connection indicated generally at 25.

The brush comprises a plurality of separate but identical sections 26, with each formed as a completebut relatively short brush roll, herein termed a section roll, and with these section rolls arranged in succession axially or lengthwise thereof, and, preferably, end to end, along the driving shaft 23 to form the brush as a whole or unit. Provision is made for coupling the section rolls of the brush unit to the driving shaft 23 in a manner mounting them as floating brush rolls and providing a driving connection from that shaft to the rolls for rotation of each on its own axis in any vertical position it assumes. To that end, the section rolls are each formed with a rigid cylindrical or disc core 21 of wood or other suitable light-weight material, centrally bored, as indicated at 28, on a diameter substantially greater than that of the shaft 23 for the extension of that shaft therethrough out of contact at all times with the cores of the rolls. The section rolls are coupled to the driving shaft 23 of the brush unit for the mounting and driving of those rolls by a plurality of identical coupling rods 29 of circular cross-section, three in number in the present example, extending through three eccentric bores or circular apertures 30, of diameters equal to each other and larger than those of the rods 29, in the disc core of each section roll. Each of the eccentric bores of each disc core extends through that core in parallelism with the axis of the core and these bores are so located as to space their longitudinal center lines or axes equal distances radially outward from the axis of the core and equal distances apart circumferentially of the core. The rods 29 are so mounted at their ends, by nut connections 3|, on flanges 32 of the driving shaft 23 adjacent the opposite ends of the brush as to extend those rods in parallelism with the driving shaft 23 and to space their longitudinal center lines or axes radially from the axis of that shaft and from each other circumferentially of that shaft in accordance with the spacing of the bores 30 in each disc core of each section roll of the brush about the axis of that core.

With the brush constructed and mounted as described above and as shown in the drawings, it is to be noted that the coupling rods 29. which arerigidly connected to the driving shaft 23 through the flanges 32 on that shaft, and the eccentric bores or sockets 30 in the disc cores of the section rolls of the brush through which those rods extend and within whichhth'ey are confined for continuous driving engagement with said cores, constitute a rod-and-socket coupling between that shaft and those rolls mounting the latter for rotation in unison with that shaft and for movement of each section roll independently of the others from a limiting low position thereof upward to varying extents radially of that shaft by upward pressure, against its lower side, of articles of varying vertical dimensions on the article-supporting surface, substantially without other opposition than that afforded by the weight of the engaged section roll. The maximum extent or range of that upward movement of the section rolls of the brush is determined, of course, by the diameters of the eccentric bores 30 in their disc cores relative to the diameters of thecoupling rods 29 which extend through those bores. It is further to be noted that this rodand-socket coupling between the driving shaft 23 and the section rolls of the brush is such as positively to drive each section roll on its own axis in any vertical position of that roll attained by upward pressure of one or more articles against it and to restrain the roll from any substantial movement radially of the driving shaft due to centrifugal force developed in driving the roll therefrom.

The limiting low position of each section roll of the brush is that of the roll shown in crosssection in Fig. 6, in which low position the roll is eccentric to the driving shaft 23 of the brush unit. For the brushing pressure of the rotating roll not to exceed its normal desired value equal to the weight of the roll, the limiting high position is that represented in Fig. 5, in which limiting high position the roll substantially exactly centers itself with respect to the driving shaft 23, and each rod 29 is at the limit of its forward movement along the surface of bore 30. The use of the expressions forward movement and rearward movement in this connection refer to the direction of travel of the rod 29.

The shifting of each rod in its bore 30 from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that of Fig. 5 is due partly to the radial lifting pressure exerted by articles traveling beneath and engaged by the brush, and partly to the retarding force applied to the periphery of the roll by engagement with such articles. The retarding force, which is due partly to friction and partly to resistance of the brush bristles to bending, tends to move each bore 30 rearwardly with respect to the rod therein, and thus shifts the rod forwardly along the surface of the bore. This forward movement in the bore from the position of Fig. 6 tends to lift the roll and reduce the radial pressure on the articles due to the roll weight. The relative importance of the retarding force and the radial lifting action exerted by the articles will vary under different conditions, and ordinarily the lifting force will be the principal factor.

When the roll is lifted above the position shown in Fig. 5, however, the rods 29 are forced to move or adjusted, and bores 30 and rods 29 should be proportioned, so that the largest articles will not raise the brush roll above the position shown in Fig. 5, in which rods 29 are at the limit of their forward movement in bores 30. Each section roll of the brush is bodily supported on the coupling rods 29 throughout the rotary drive of that roll on its own axis in its limiting low position relative'to the driving shaft 23. This is shown by the full and dotted line presentations in Fig. 6 of the eccentric bores 30 in the core ofthe brush roll and of the coupling rods 29 therein, in differing angular positions of those bores about the axis of the roll and in correspondingly differing angular positions of those rods about the axis of the driving shaft 23 as the roll is driven from that shaft by the coupling rods in rotation of the roll on its own axis in its limiting low position. In this connection, it is to be noted that the coupling rods 29 constantly engage the core body of each section roll of the brush within the bores 30 at points equally spaced apart about the axis of the core to rotate the roll under points of engagement is eccentric to the axis of the roll in the low position thereof shown in Fig. 6, it is concentric with that axis in the high position shown in Fig. 5. This is due, of course, to the fixed mounting of the coupling rods 29 on the driving shaft 23 of the brush which disposes these rods in a circular series concentric with that shaft, to the arrangement of the bores 30 in the core of each section roll in a circular series concentric with the axis of the roll, and to the change in vertical position of the roll with respect to that shaft when the roll moves from its low to its high position. It will be understood, of course, that each section roll of the brush is supported in all positions above its limiting low position by the articles which move it upward, and that upon such upward movement of the roll the coupling rods 29 engage its core within the eccentric bores 30 at points which, although not-providing the sole support for the roll on the rods, continue to provide a driving connection between the shaft 23 of the brush unit and the roll.

With the brush constructed and mounted as described above and shown in the drawings, it is still further to be noted that the section rolls do not at any time engage the driving shaft 23. The driving shaft may therefore be formed as a divided or two-part shaft with the brush unit disposed between the parts so as to permit dispensing with the central bore 28 in the disc core 21 of each section roll and enable that core to he made, solid except for the eccentric bores 3|! through which the coupling rods 29 extend. Such a. construction is advantageous where section rolls of relatively small diameter are required or where the desired rangeof movement of the section rolls radially of the driving shaft requires bores '30 of substantially larger diameters relative to the diameters of the disc cores than indicated in the drawings for the present construction. On the other hand, where such requirements do not obtain, the present construction is advantageous in avoiding the somewhat more complicated and heavier shaft mountings generally required to maintain the parts of a divided driving shaft in proper alignment. Either construction, however, presents rotary shaft means adjacent opposite ends of the brush unit, and the means for mounting and driving the section rolls of the brush from that shaft means will be as already described.

The length and stiffness of the brush bristles and the rotational speed of the brush will depend, of course, upon the nature of the articles with which the brush is designed to be used and the required intensity of the brushing action. In

the present example, the brush is employed in a machine designed more especially for polishing globular fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons, apples, pears and like articles requiring a relatively light brush pressure and a relatively high speed of the brush against them to render the brushing effective for this purpose and at the same time avoid damage to the body structure or surface of the articles. For such use, each section roll of the brush is preferably provided with relatively short but soft and flexible bristles, such, for example, as bristles of fine horsehair havinga length from the peripheral surface of the disc core of less than half the diameter of that core, as shown more particularly in Fig. l.

Also, for its use in such an article-brushing machine, the overhead brush of the invention will most advantageously be mounted, through its driving shaft, at such a level above the article-supporting surface as to dispose its section rolls, in their limiting low positions, in effective brushing engagement with articles of any one kind, such as oranges, for example, of minimum size, 1. e. vertical extent upon the support, which such a machine is usually designed to handle, and the arrangement and diameters of the coupling rods 29 and eccentric bores 30 in the disc cores of the rolls will be such as to provide a range of up and down movements of the brush rolls radially of the driving shaft 23 approxi mately equal to the range of size variations in such articles usually occurring in the lots handled by such a machine.

Further referring to the use of the overhead brush of the invention in this machine as an example illustrating its operating principles and advantages and taking oranges having the usual individual size variations as an example of articles to be brushed, with the machine idle or running without fruit therein each section roll of the brush will occupy, by its own weight, its limiting low position, shown for the one section roll exposed to view in Fig. 1 and for all the section rolls of Figs. 3 and 4 except the first three at the left. As pointed out above, approximately that low position will still be occupied by any section roll of the brush during the running of the machine when an orange, more or less diagrammatically represented at F in Fig. 3, of the minimum size which the machine is designed to handle advances upon the supporting conveyor into engagement therewith, and generally the upward pressure of such an article against the section roll will be approximately equal to but not greater than the weight of the roll. But when a section roll of the brush is engaged by an orange of sufliciently larger size, i. e. vertical extent upon the supporting conveyor, to overcome the downward pressure of that roll, the latter will rise, within the permissible limit, until the upward pressure of that article against the lower side of the roll becomes approximately equal to the downward pressure of the roll, which will not be greater than the weight of the roll when the roll is not raised above the limiting position shown in Fig. 5. The first two section rolls at the left in Fig. 3 are shown as engaged by an orange F of sufiicient size to elevate these rolls to their limiting high position. An orange of intermediate size, represented at F" in Fig. 3, will elevate the section roll which it engages to some intermediate position such as shown for the third section roll from the left in that view.

It is apparent from the foregoing that, for any lot of articles of a nature on which such a brush may be used and within the practical limits of the range of sizes of such articles which it may be designed to accommodate, the overhead brush of the invention will function to apply substantially the same brush pressure and friction on each article, regardless of its size, throughout the lot when the articles are disposed on a suitable support beneath the brush, such, for example, as the conveyor of the fruit-brushing machine in which the brush is here shown as used. The brush thus functions because, with its construction as a floating sectional overhead brush, the brush pressure on each article is determined substantially only by the weight of the engaged section rolls and the friction is additionally determined only by the rotational speed of those rolls and they are all driven at the same constant speed from the common driving shaft in all vertical positions taken by the rolls under engagement of the articles therewith. These operating features of the brush adapt it for advantageous use in brushing various articles customarily handled in lots of the articles of any one kind presenting substantial variations in individual sizes through the lot, and especially for such use in cleaning, coating, polishing or effecting other surface treatments of globular fruits, eggs and other articles of a nature requiring a relatively light brush pressure and a relatively high speed of the brush against them to render the brushing effective for any of these purposes while avoiding damage to the body structure or surfaces of the articles. In the described and illustrated embodiment of the invention in an overhead brush of a fruit brushing machine, for example, the operating features of the section rolls of the brush just referred to, together with their relatively light weight and the relatively soft and flexible bristles with which they are provided, ensure that delicacy of rubbing or brushing action on the fruit required to avoid injury to the more tender and thinner skinned varieties without sacrifice in effectiveness of the rubbing or brushing action, for, as thus constructed, the brush can safely be driven at high speed. I

Further referring to the structural features of the overhead brush of the invention, it is to be noted that while the arrangement of three coupling rods 29 for the mounting and driving connection from the driving shaft 23 to the section rolls of the brush is not indispensable for the satisfactory operation of the brush and any convenient number, more than two, of rods 29 may be used, it has been found that the arrangement shown of three such rods, with the corresponding eccentric bores 30 in the disc cores of the section rolls through which those rods extend,

is particularly suitable as a. well balanced arrangement. Also, the length along its driving shaft of the overhead brush as a whole-or unit will, of course, depend upon the particular situations of use for which the brush is designed; and, in the given example, the length of the brush is made to correspond with the size and capacity of the article-brushing machine in which it is used. Also, the section rolls of which the brush as a whole or unit is composed may vary in number, above and below the twelve section rolls shown for the brush in the present example, and consequently in the length of each section roll along the common driving shaft. The general object in respect to the length of the brush along its driving shaft, the number of section rolls composing it and the length of each such roll is to form this overhead brush of a size adapted for its intended use; and further, especially for use of the brush on fruit or other articles of more or less globular shape, as in the given example, to enable the brush, by way of its individually movable section rolls, to so conform to the upper surface contour of each such article as to extend into effective brushing engagement with the article over a wide area of that surface. The relatively short dimension of each brush section across its brush face, the flexibility of its bristles and the movability of each such brush section upward and downward independently of the others are important factors in this last-mentioned operating feature as shown in the present example by the engaging positions of certain section rolls of the brush with articles of fruit on the conveyor (Figs. 1 and 3).

What is claimed is: I

1. A brushing device of the character described comprising the combination, with a rotary cylindrical brush roll having a rigid core, of means for maintaining and positively driving said brush roll with its axis of rotation substantially horizontal while permitting free vertical movement of said roll within predetermined limits, said means comprising a horizontally mounted driving shaft, and a plurality of coupling members rigidly mounted on said shaft in spaced relation thereto for rotation therewith, said coupling members entering loosely into a corresponding plurality of cooperating sockets with which the brush roll core is provided, said sockets laterally surrounding and confining the respective coupling members therewithin for continuous positive driving engagement with said core while permitting the aforesaid vertical movement of said mil.

2. A brushing device of the character described comprising the combination, with a rotary cylindrical brush roll having a rigid core, of means for maintaining and positively driving said brush roll with its axis of rotation substantially horizontal while permitting free vertical movement of said roll within predetermined limits, said means comprising a horizontally mounted driving shaft, and a plurality of coupling members of round cross-section mounted upon and uniformly spaced from the shaft axis and uniformly spaced apart circumferentially, said coupling members extending substantially parallel with said shaft into-a plurality of cooperating round sockets provided in the roll core and disposed about the core axis in an arangement and spacing corresponding to that of said coupling members about the driving shaft axis, said sockets surrounding and confining said coupling members for continuous positive driving engagement with said core but being of sufficiently greater effective diameter than the respective coupling members to permit the aforesaid vertical movement of said roll.

3. A brushing device as defined by claim 2, wherein said coupling members are three in number.

4. A brushing device comprising a plurality of roll sections arrangederid to end, each roll section being constructed as defined by claim 2 and provided with a plurality of round apertures which, in alinement with those of the other roll sections, constitute the socket means, said coupling members extending through the apertures of all the roll sections and permitting individual vertical movement of each section.

5. A brushing device comprising a plurality of roll sections arranged end to end, each roll section being constructed as defined by claim 2 and provided with a plurality of round apertures which, in alinement with those of the other roll sections, constitute the socket means, said coupling members being three in number, extending through the apertures of all the roll sections and permitting individual vertical movement of each section.

6. A brushing device comprising the combination, with a support, a rotary shaft mounted in substantially horizontal position on said support and means for rotating said shaft, a rotary brush roll having a rigid core and an annular brush face, and means mounting said brush roll in substantially horizontal position and driving the same from said shaft, said means comprising a plurality of rigid coupling elements rigidly connected to and disposed about said shaft in parallelism with its axis and maintained in engagement, at points symmetrically located relative to the shaft, with said core of said brush roll to mount said roll for rotation thereof with said shaft and movement thereof radially of said shaft from a limiting low position of said roll upward and substantially against the weight of the roll alone, by upward pressure on the lower side of said roll suflicient to overcome said weight and for downward movement of said roll toward said low position by gravity alone, said core of said brush roll being provided with eccentric bores spaced apart about the axis of said roll, said rigid elements of said mounting and driving means extending into engagement with said core within said bores and being loosely surrounded by the bores and spaced from the shaft, whereby said rigid elements are arranged to mount said brush roll and drive the same from said shaft.

7. A brushing device comprising the combination, with a support, a rotary shaft mounted in substantialy horizontal position on said support and means for rotating said shaft, of a. rotary brush roll having a rigid core and an annular brush face, and means mounting said roll with its rotational axis in substantially horizontal po sition and driving the same from said shaft, said means comprising a plurality of rods of circular cross-section rigidly connected to and disposed about said shaft in parallelismwith its axis and equally spaced radially outward therefrom to revolve with and about the axis of said shaft, and a like plurality of eccentric sockets in said core receiving said rods and provided with curved boundary walls disposing said brush roll by gravity in a limiting low position supported on said rods with said roll eccentric to said shaft and said rods engaging said boundary walls to estabblish a driving connection from said shaft to said roll for rotation of the latter on its own axis, said boundary walls having a curvature providing for movements of said brush roll, radially of said shaft and substantially against its own weight alone, to higher position with said rods engaging against said boundary walls in positions affording no substantial support to said roll but continuing to meet a driving connection from said shaft to said roll when said roll is supported in said higher position as by pressure of an article against its lower side,

8. A brushing device comprising the combination, with a support, a rotary shaft mounted in substantially horizontal position on said support and means for rotating said shaft, of a rotary brush comprising a plurality of separate sections, each of said sections being formed as acomplete but relatively short brush roll having a rigid cylindrical core and an annular brush face, and said sections being arranged in succession lengthwise thereof to form said brush, and means mounting said brush with its rotational axis in substantially horizontal position and driving the same from said shaft, said means comprising a plurality of rigid coupling elements rigidly connected to and disposed about said shaft in parallelism with its axis and engaging said cores of said section rolls of said brush to mount said section rolls for rotation of the same in unison with said shaft and movement of each of said section rolls, independently of the others and substantially against its own weight alone, from a limiting low position thereof eccentric to said shaft upward to a. position thereof concentric with said shaft by upward pressure. on the lower side of said roll sufiicient to overcome its weight and for downward movement of each of said section rolls toward said low position by gravity alone, said rigid coupling elements being of circular crosssection and of equal diameters and having their longitudinal center lines or axes equally spaced radially outward from the axis of said shaft and equally spaced from each other circumferentially of said shaft, and said cylindrical core of eachof said section rolls of said brush being provided with eccentric bores, one for each of said coupling elements, extending longitudinally through said core in parallelism with its axis, said bores being of equal diameters greater than the diameters of said coupling elements and having their longitudinal center lines or axes spaced radially from the axis of said core and spaced from one another circumferentiallyof said core in correspondence with the spacing of said coupling elements with respect to said shaft, and said coupling elements extending within said bores in the cores of all of said section rolls and driving the same from said shaft. 9. A brushing device comprising in combination a pair of rotary driving members, means supporting the rotary members coaxially for rotation about a fixed horizontal axis, a sectional brush roll comprising a plurality of contiguous brush roll sections, each roll section including a core having a series of round openings extending through it at uniform distance from the axis of the brush section and round coupling rods con- 10. A brushing device including a brushing roll and means for supporting and rotating the roll, comprising a plurality of drive members rotating about a common horizontal axis, and means for maintaining a continuous driving connection between each drive member and the brushing roll while permitting vertical movement of the roll relative to said drive members, said mea comprising a socket in the brushing roll for each drive member, said member being loosely fitted into and substantially surrounded by said socket.

11. A brushing device including abrushing roll and means for supporting and rotating the roll comprising a plurality of drive members rotating about a common horizontal axis, and means for maintaining a continuous driving connection between each drive member and the brushing roll while permitting vertical movement of the roll relative to said drive members, said means comprising a guideway within which each drive member is confined and along which said member is freely movable in continuous engagement therewith.

12. A brushing roll unit comprising a series of axially juxtaposed roll sections, each section being provided with a series of symmetrical circumaxial apertures arranged for alinement with apertures in the other sections, a plurality of drive rods each extending longitudinally through alined apertures in successive sections, being surrounded by and fitting loosely in each aperture to permit free and independent vertical movement of each section; andmeans for rotating the drive rods about a common axis.

13. A brushing device including a brushing roll and means for supporting and rotating the roll about a horizontal axis, the drive means including a, plurality of drive members and the driving roll including a corresponding number of guideways, each engaged by a drive member and arranged for movement of said member along the guideway when the roll engages an article, said guideways having inclined surfaces arranged to force the roll upwardly by movement of the members along the guideways in a forward direction when the roll is subjected to a rearward retarding force by engagement with said articles.

RONALD R BROGDEN. 

